Longtime Sunnyvale pottery instructor retires

(photo Jacqueline Ramseyer/SVCN/September 9, 2013)
After 40 years, ceramic artist Barbara Brown is retiring from teaching her high fire ceramic classes at the Sunnyvale Art Center. Brown, 80, will continue teaching pottery classes at the Sunnyvale Senior Center for Adult Education and Palo Alto Art Center. Brown is seen here with just a fraction of the ceramic art she has collected from around the world.

Students heard these three simple words on a regular basis in the classroom of Sunnyvale's pottery instructor Barbara Brown, and with them, any inhibitions they may have had about trying out the art form melted away and creativity flowed freely.

But after 40 years with the city of Sunnyvale, the longtime teacher and mentor has retired from her post at the Creative Arts Center.

But it is by no means goodbye.

The pottery pundit is far too embedded into the local arts community to ever truly retire, nor would she ever really want to.

The former Foothill and De Anza college ceramic instructor will continue to teach at the Palo Alto Cultural Center, as well as at through the city's adult education classes at the senior center.

And as a world traveler, she still serves as the international ambassador for the Association of Clay and Glass Artists of California.

Having been to more than 70 countries in the world, Brown has been drawn to its many forms and has amassed an impressive collection within her Sunnyvale home. If it has to do with pottery, she is all about it.

Pillowcases on her living room couch have images of different shaped pieces of pottery as well as a matching blanket. Paintings that hang on her walls were done by her friends who were inspired by pieces of pottery she created.

A piece of pottery decorated by Picasso was a steal she found at a thrift store for $3.50.

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In each room of her home, bookshelves that are dedicated to a specific country are stocked with pieces of pottery of every shape and size imaginable. The Yucatan, France, the Philippines, Japan, Russia, India, Korea, Austria, China and even the Pennsylvania town she grew up in all have their own shelf space.

When done touring her incredible collection, it becomes clear this is more than a passion but a way of life.

"It's good for the soul," the 80-year-old said of working with your hands and taking time out of your day to sit and create.

Those who have worked with her and worked with clay feel the same way.

"It does not matter how we identify ourselves: a 'real' artist, a hobbyist or just a fun-loving person fooling around with clay," said student Alyona Ostrovsky of Palo Alto. "Led by Ms. Brown, we all had our generous share of the pure joy of living."

Kristin Dance, the visual arts coordinator at the Sunnyvale Creative Arts Center who has worked with Brown for 17 years, said the center was lucky to have such a knowledgeable artist as an instructor.

"We were really lucky to have her for as long as we did," Dance said. "We've been able to pride ourselves here at the community center that we have a very strong, well-known--nationally and internationally--teaching staff, and Barbara was one of them. We are sad to see her go, but I have a feeling she will be around."

Brown herself said she can't deny that fact.

"You'll have to come back when I'm 95 and still doing this," she told The Sun. "I have all these ideas, and I share them. I have a theory that only you can make your own work. You can have the same idea, but it's not going to be the same exactly. I just can't imagine quitting."

And she doesn't show any signs of stopping. On average, she keeps about 200 to 300 pounds of fresh clay in her studio in her back yard.